Why Are Main Character Training Arcs Always in Mountains?
Author: Navpreet Flora
You may have noticed that any strong superhero or main character (MC), has typically gone through a rigorous training arc. The toad sages took Naruto to Mount Myōboku to learn how to use Sage Mode. Bruce Wayne was trained by martial arts experts in the Tibetan Himalayas in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins. Tanjiro spent two years in the mountains with his teacher Urokodaki, to prepare for the Demon Slayer Corps’ Final Selection test. Kamar-Taj was the home and training grounds of the Masters of the Mystic Arts, and where Doctor Strange trained alongside his fellow sorcerers under the Ancient One.
These training arcs provide for excellent physical and mental development for the MC, but also place them at a surreal setting, far away from all else, where the MC can solely prioritize themselves and hone their skills. This makes one wonder if training at an altitude is superior to training at sea level (a.k.a where we normally go for a run).
Although altitude training (also known as hypoxic training)—training in the mountains, or at a high elevation—is common across fictional worlds, it’s also used in the real world! And contrary to popular belief, it’s not only for people who are going mountain climbing, or for professional athletes, but can be for anyone who wants to improve their endurance. Elevation training triggers physiological changes as the body gets used to an oxygen-poor environment. Psychological changes refers to changes in the body that relate to how the body normally functions.1 At a higher altitude, there is a lower atmospheric pressure, and air particles are more “spaced out” from one another. So, when a person is up on the mountains and inhales, they breathe less air. Air has oxygen (O2), which means that the person is taking in less oxygen, delivering less oxygen to the bloodstream, and ultimately decreasing the amount of energy available to the cells in our body. As a result, our bodies get tired more quickly, and we feel more exhausted.
Someone (like our MC) may use altitude training according to their own needs such as having more stamina or endurance to fight the main villain. The low oxygen levels create an ideal training environment because it focuses the body to adapt to a new environment where it may have a hard time maintaining energy levels or keeping up blood flow. This is particularly useful for an MC where they have prolonged multi-episode battles or have to spend a whole night fighting crime.
And overtime, the body compensates by activating a protein complex called hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) which improves oxygen delivery, enhances our lung function, and increases energy replacement in our cells.2,3,4 The lack of available oxygen forces our cardiovascular system (heart) to adapt by releasing a hormone (erythropoietin) that increases the production of our red blood cells (the cells which transport oxygen).5 This way, the heart is able to keep up with giving our body the amount of oxygen we need. Similarly, our respiratory muscles (lung muscles) become better at taking in more of the “low-oxygen air” and maximize the contents of every breath because they know that oxygen is limited in this area.6 Best of all, our bodies get used to the presence of lactic acid (the “fatigue” chemical) that our muscles produce when they get tired, and hence develop a resistance to it over time.7 This is what helps most with building up our endurance. That being said, if the body hasn’t properly adapted to the new environment, then altitude training will cause too much stress on the body, and do more damage than good.
At the end of the day, scientists don’t have enough evidence on whether altitude training has any tangible benefits for individuals in the real world.8 So, it’s important to keep these high altitude training sessions short, because long training cycles will do more damage than we want.9 As for our MC’s, their year-long training session doesn’t do much harm since, well, they’re fictional. However, consistency, dedication, and hardwork is ultimately what makes them some of the strongest characters in their universe and inspirational in our universe.
Bailey, D M, and B Davies. “Physiological Implications of Altitude Training for Endurance Performance at Sea Level: A Review.” British Journal of Sports Medicine 31, no. 3 (September 1997): 183–90. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsm.31.3.183.
Chen, Baoxia, Zhusheng Wu, Xia Huang, Zhichao Li, Qianjin Wu, and Zichao Chen. “Effect of Altitude Training on the Aerobic Capacity of Athletes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” Heliyon 9, no. 9 (September 2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20188.
Chen, “Altitude and Aerobic Capacity”.
Bonato, G., S.P.J. Goodman, and Lathlean Tjh. “Physiological and Performance Effects of Live High Train Low Altitude Training for Elite Endurance Athletes: A Narrative Review.” Current Research in Physiology 6 (2023): 100113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crphys.2023.100113.
Chen, “Altitude and Aerobic Capacity”.
Chen, “Altitude and Aerobic Capacity”.
Bonato, “Physiological and Performance Effects”.
Girard, Olivier. “Editorial – Contemporary Use of Altitude Training to Reach New Heights.” Journal of Science in Sport and Exercise 4, no. 4 (October 10, 2022): 291–92. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42978-022-00202-z.
Chen, “Altitude and Aerobic Capacity”.